Nonprofit news roundup, 01.21.16

Charitable giving in the U.S. is expected to grow 4.1 percent in 2016 and 4.3 percent in 2017, a new report says.

Giving by foundations is expected to grow the most, followed by growth in giving by estates and corporations, with individuals and households giving more in 2016 and 2017, compared to previous one-year periods, says The Philanthropy Outlook 2016 and 2017, which was researched and written by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University an

Changes in total giving in 2016 and 2017 are expected to exceed the five-year, 10-year and 25-year annualized average rates of growth in total giving, and will fall just slightly short of the 40-year average growth rate of 4.4 percent, says the study, which was presented by Marts & Lundy, a fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm.

Giving to education, which historically has represented about one-sixth of all U.S. giving, is expected to grow by 6.3 percent in 2016 and by 6.1 percent in 2017.

Those growth rates slightly exceed the 40-year annualized average rate of growth for giving to education and are roughly equal with the 25-year average and higher than the 10-year average, the report says.

Factors expected to have the biggest positive impact on U.S. charitable giving in 2016 and 2017 include, among other factors, projected growth in the S&P 500, personal income and the net worth of households and nonprofits, the report says.

But changes in tax policy or significant changes in the global or U.S. economy could affect the predictions, it says.

Older donors most likely to give online, study says

Donors ages 40 to 59 years are now the most likely to give online, countering the conventional wisdom that younger donors are more likely to give online, a new study says

The share of donors ages 40 to 59 giving online grew to 67 percent in 2015 from 47 percent in 2010, says a survey commissioned by Dunham+Company and conducted by Campbell Brinker of 400 U.S. adult donors who had given at least $20 in the previous year.

In comparison, 54 percent of donors age 60 and older say they have given online, making this demographic just as likely to give online as those under 40.

Twenty-six percent of donors surveyed, up from 20 percent a year ago, say they have given on a charity’s website as a result of being asked to do so by another individual through social media.

Thirty-four percent of surveyed donors under age 40, and of those who are single, say they respond to a solicitation through social media, as do 40 percent of people who occasionally attend religious services and 30 percent those who and make $25,000 to $75,000 a year.

Twenty percent of surveyed donors say they have given online as a result of an email from a charity, up from six percent in 2010.

Eleven percent of donors say they have made a gift through an organization’s website as a result of receiving an appeal letter through the mail from the charity.

Nineteen percent of donors age 66 or older say they given that way in response to direct mail, compared to eight percent of donors under 40

Fifty-one percent of donors who receive a letter in the mail asking for support say they go online to make their contribution, while 36 percent say they send their donation through the mail, and 18 percent say will make that donation using a mobile device.

Swayne stepping down as CEO of StepUp North Carolina

Steve Swayne will step down this spring as CEO of StepUp North Carolina and will join the Raleigh-based nonprofit’s board of directors.

Founder leaving Benevolence Farm

Tanya Jisa has resigned as executive director of Benevolence Farm, a nonprofit she founded in 2007 that in Alamance County that provides jobs and a place to live for women returning from prison.

Benevolence Farm is conducting a search for a new executive director.

Carolina for Kibera names new executive director

Julian Rowa, who recently helped launch an Equity Bank in in Rwanda that has helped create access to capital for millions of Africans, has been named executive director of Carolina for Kibera, a Chapel Hill-based nonprofit that focuses on the Nairobi slum of Kibera.

A former boxer in a low-income community in Nairobi, Kenya, Rowa will be based in Kenya.

He succeeds Leann Bankoski, who is joining an advisory firm in Kenya that works to identify, measure, and scale best practices in global development.

Play puts spotlight on homelessness

First Baptist Church Greensboro in February will host the premiere of “Un/Sheltered Lives,” a play that focuses on local individuals struggling with homelessness, and ways to support and and connect with them.

To be performed February 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. and February 28 at 1 p.m., the play was written by Debra LeWinter, a local playwright, and will be performed by Scripture and Stage, a drama group from the church.

It is based on interviews with people living in poverty and conducted at the Interactive Resource Center by Greensboro Day School students.

First Baptist Church commissioned the script to deepen the conversation about those living in poverty in our community and how to best reach out to them.

STARworks renovating historic building

STARworks, a project in Star, N.C., of Central Park North Carolina, has begun a project to restore and renovate the historic building that houses the STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise.

The building, including the original building built around 1900, was donated to Central Park in 2005.

Once the renovation is complete, STARworks plans to have a large retail store that will sell products made in-house, as well as work made by other artists and craftspeople working in North Carolina.

Architect Frank Harmon designed the new look for STARworks.

Harvard Business School Club of Charlotte gives $63,000

Harvard Business School Club of Charlotte gave $63,000 to local nonprofits last year, its biggest annual total, brining to nearly $500,000 the total it has donated in 13 years.

Free tech support available

Inmar will host its second Community Tech Night in Winston-Salem on January 28 in partnership with Winston-Net. The event will be held at the Fourteenth Street Community Center at 2020 N.E. 14th St.

A team staffing a “Help Desk” at the event will provide free, one-on-one assistance to anyone with questions or needing help on problems involving a personal computer, mobile device or use of technology.

Arts Greensboro gives $18,000 to artists

ArtsGreensboro awarded a total of $18,000 to 15 artists from among 41 who submitted applications — the most ever — requesting a total of over $78,000 for projects this year.

Two join Band Together advisory board

Stephanie Sanders of Poyner Spruill and Jason Brodmerkel of Elliott Davis Decosimo will join the advisory board of Band Together NC, a Triangle-based organization that uses live music as a platform for social change.

Goetz Foundation to make larger grants

Noah Z.M. Goetz Foundation in Durham has increased to $2,500 from $1,000 the size of its grants to help recipients offset costs associated with the process of adoption.

The Foundation, which will offer two grant cycles in 2016, has awarded 13 grants since 2011.

Boys & Girls Clubs to get donated supplies

The Ken Carlson Boys & Girls Club at 2100 Reynolds Park Rd. and International Boys & Girls Clubs at 850 New Walkertown Rd., both part of the Salvation Army of Greater Winston-Salem, are among Boys & Girls Clubs in 12 communities in the Carolinas, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C., that will received supplies such as storage containers, light bulbs, cleaning supplies and trash bags donated by the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Lowe’s.

Each Boys & Girls club also will receive a $150 Lowe’s gift card.

Four join board of Barnabas Network

Four new members have joined the board of The Barnabas Network, a nonprofit furniture bank in Greensboro that provides household furnishings to local families in need.

Joining the board are Lindsay Burkart, owner of FEMCO Construction; Ruth Edwards, former executive director of The Arc; Henry May, owner and president of Peaches ‘N Cream Children’s Wear; and Chuck Wallington, vice president of marketing at Moses Cone Health System.

Willie Gary to speak to black law students

Attorney Willie Gary, a partner at Gary, Williams, Parenti and Watson, will be the keynote speaker at the 31st Annual Scholarship Banquet to be hosted by the Wake Forest Black Law Students Association on February 12 at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem.

Concert to benefit cancer research foundation

A free concert featuring the music of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Monk and benefiting the McCay Foundation for Cancer Research will be held February 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church at 40 North Holden Rd. in Greensboro.

Winston-Salem State gets $50,000 for internships

Winston-Salem State University has received a $50,000 gift from DataMax Foundation to create paid internships at businesses located in Forsyth County.

The funds will provide 16 Winston-Salem State students with paid internships in 2016.